WUNRN
Women's Feature Service
A group of girls wait outside the Hathitala village in
Barmer for
a bus to school, nine kilometres away. (Credit: Rekha Pal\WFS)
By Rekha
Hathitala, Barmer
(Women's Feature Service) – Early mornings in Heena's home are usually busy.
The eight-year-old is frantically finishing up her homework even as her more
diligent elder sister, Seema, 14, eggs her on and guides her when she gets
stuck with the tough questions. After this, the sisters get ready and head for
their school close by.
Outside their
thatched-roofed pucca home, there's hectic activity going on as a gaggle of
girls – all 15 to 17 year olds – makes their way to the bus stop on National
Highway No. 15, from where they have to hop on to a bus that will drop them off
at the higher secondary school some nine kilometres away.
This is how a typical
day for young girls in Hathitala in western Rajasthan, unfolds. Unlike the rest
of the state where, daughters are generally ignored and neglected, in this gram
panchayat, 25 kilometres away from Barmer city, right in the heart of the
Deep-rooted social
prejudices and discriminative practices have ensured that Rajasthan today has
some of the worst social indicators, where girls and women are concerned. As
per Census 2011, the state has hit a new low in child sex ratio, which has gone
down to 883 per 1000 boys – a shocking drop of 33 points since 1991. The female
literacy rate has grown only by nine per cent – it's 52 per cent now from 43
per cent in 2001 – the lowest growth rate in the country. Moreover, one in
every three school-going girls drops out as they are married off early. In
fact, the Demographic Health Survey data indicates that Rajasthan has 68 per
cent girls marrying before they turn 18.
Barmer district,
where Hathitala is located, has been positively unfair in its treatment to
girls: Already infamous for having been a hotbed for female infanticide, the
average literacy rate here as per Census 2011 is 57.49 per cent compared to
58.99 in 2001. The female literacy rate is a dismal – 41.03 per cent, down from
43.45 in 2001.
Hathitala's attitude
towards its daughters, therefore, would appear rather extraordinary, making
Heena, Seema, Sunita and their friends very fortunate to be living here. Of
course, while the child marriage tradition is still being followed, at least
the gram panchayat has the unique
distinction of sending all of its 600 girls to school, something that is
unheard of in Rajasthan.
This is not a new
development in the village. The rule
that makes it mandatory for girls to attend school was put into force in 1991
by then panchayat members Gangaram Sai and Bhanwar Singh, and some other
visionary village elders, who had themselves gone to school and understood the
importance of education for everybody, especially girls. It also helps that the
current sarpanch, Laali Devi, has also ensured that no family violates this
rule.
Yogesh Beniwal, Laali Devi's son, elaborates on how the
compulsory schooling is working out for Hathitala. He says, "Although
there are penalties and fines on non-compliance of the rule, nobody has been
fined till now as every family here believes in getting their daughters
educated."
Adds Gangaram Sai,
one of the prime movers of this initiative, "These days there is a sort of
competition among the families to send their girls to school. Likewise, the
girls are also doing well and making their parents proud. Over the years, many
of them have become teachers, auxiliary nurses, constables in the police and
also national kho-kho players. So nobody ever thinks of letting their daughter
stay back at home here." Another village elder puts in, "Parh likh
jayengi to naukri lag jayegi aur zindagi sudhar jayegi (Education will provide
them jobs which will improve the standards of their life.)"
But an enlightened
outlook was not always there. Until about 20 years ago, like in the rest of
state, the girls in Hathitala, too, were not allowed to attend school. Once the
village elders had made up their mind to change things, the process of
transformation began, albeit very slowly. To stir things along, it was decided
that a fine would be imposed.
There is an unwritten
rule that reluctant families would be imposed a penalty of crop and cash, as
per their financial status, and would also have to face social exclusion. The
main occupation around here is agriculture and they chiefly grow coarse cereals
like bajra and pulses like moong.
At the Rajkiya Uchch
Prathmik Vidyalaya, a co-educational school till Class Eight, Babulal has been
witness to the changing times over his 17 year teaching career. He says, "Slowly
I noticed that parents were keen that their daughters study well, which was
initially quite surprising for me. Parents now want their girls to have a
career like the boys."
It's the mothers of Hathitala, who have hastened the pace
of change.
They no longer want their daughters to undergo the same traumas they did
because of their illiteracy and early marriages. Today they aggressively guard
their daughter’s right to education. Take Seema's mother, Munni Devi. Due to
poverty, the little girl may be compelled to go and work in the fields but her
mother ensures that she never misses school. "I do work in the field but
have been going to school for the past nine years. I can read, write and help
my younger siblings as well," says Seema shyly.
Her mother adds,
"Our village is unique. I feel blessed that both my daughters have been
able to join school. They will be better informed about their health and would
be able to handle their life better when they get married."
Another mother,
Harkhu Devi is proud of her daughter Panni, who is a now a constable with the
Hadi Rani Battalion and is posted in
Talk to the girls of
Hathitala and most say: "Both our parents and in-laws understand the power
of education. They know girls often outshine boys in exams and even become
economically independent." Sunita, 17, adds, "Thankfully, nobody
objects even if we travel in bus to the school some distance away. But we
prefer to move in groups. After all, there are still some prejudices left in
our social system."
Today, where other
Rajasthani girls can only dream of sitting in a classroom, Sunita and her
friends are studying Economics, Maths and Hindi and hoping to work in the city
one day.
For Rajasthan, there
is hope in a small and remote village like Hathitala, which has lit up the
lives of its girls through compulsory schooling and allowed them to dream of
touching the sky.